SMU to get $33M for arts

[Cheesesteak]

SMU to get $33M for arts

Meadows Foundation's record donation to benefit school, museum

Tuesday, February 28, 2006
By JANET KUTNER / Staff Writer
The Dallas Morning News

The Meadows Foundation has pledged $33 million to support the school of arts and museum at Southern Methodist University, the largest single donation in the histories of SMU and the foundation.

The gift from the family foundation of Dallas oilman Algur H. Meadows could transform two of the campus's highest-profile institutions.

The bulk of the money, $25 million, will go to the Meadows Museum he founded in 1962, which houses one of the finest collections of Spanish art outside Spain.

An additional $8 million is for faculty and student recruitment and maintenance of the Meadows School of the Arts.

Home to several theaters and the Hamon Arts Library, the school offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in disciplines including art, theater, music and film.

"Hopefully, this gift will help propel these institutions into the future," Meadows Foundation president and CEO Linda Evans said Tuesday. Referring to her great-uncle, Mr. Meadows, she said, "Uncle Al wanted the museum and school that bear his name to be of great distinction, and this gift is in keeping with his wishes."

The foundation gave SMU $20 million for the new museum building that opened in 2001. In January the museum named curator Mark Roglán director. Carole Brandt, dean of the Meadows School, retires in May, and the search for a new dean is nearing conclusion.

The new money is needed. The building that houses the school is outmoded, and the gift includes $3 million to maintain an expanded facility once the university raises the necessary capital for construction.

Despite the new home, the museum has drifted as an institution since its first director, William B. Jordan, left in 1981 to become deputy director of the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth. Former Kimbell director Edmund "Ted" Pillsbury instilled new life during his brief tenure. But he left in May 2005 after less than two years.

Attendance for 2005 was 50,000, compared with 550,000 at the Dallas Museum of Art and 160,000 at the smaller Nasher Sculpture Center.

"This gift is just what has been needed," Dr. Jordan said. "It's great news for the Meadows Museum, for SMU and for Dallas. This is the kind of commitment Mr. Meadows made in his lifetime, and the kind he would applaud today."

Dr. Pillsbury agreed. "This news is very gratifying to me," he said. "It shows that the Meadows Foundation is willing and able to play a leadership role in the ongoing support of Mr. Meadows' great legacy."

The impact of this latest gift, which is to be paid over 10 years, will snowball, said Gerald Turner, SMU president.

"Steady funds will allow the museum to plan exhibitions several years out, and that's what draws the traffic," he said. "Many people will be introduced to the collection for the first time."

The annual budget for exhibitions for the last two years has been about $500,000, Dr. Roglán said.

"With this wonderful gift, we have $750,000 a year for exhibitions and another $750,000 for acquisitions, not counting a $5 million matching grant for art purchases," he said. "This will help improve programming on the one hand, but it really puts us in a different arena for purchases because now we can actively pursue works at auction or from other sources."

With the $5 million grant, the foundation will match donations for acquisitions one-to-one, but it will take no credit. For example, if a contributor provides $100,000 for art, the foundation will add $100,000.

"Double for your money," Ms. Evans called it, noting that "the foundation's name won't even appear on the label."

Money to hire a new education director is part of the package, and community outreach will be one of that person's main responsibilities. "We want the museum to be a resource for students, but we want to share it with everyone in the city and the state," Ms. Evans said.

The Meadows Foundation and family are now the biggest benefactors SMU has ever had, university officials said. Mr. Meadows gave $30.4 million during his lifetime, and the foundation has provided an additional $67 million since his death in 1978.

A formal announcement and celebration of the gift will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Owen Arts Center, 6101 Bishop Blvd.

RECENT MAJOR GIFTS TO SMU

$30 MILLION
• Robert and Nancy Dedman, 1997, supporting construction of the Dedman Life Sciences Building, endowment of the Dedman School of Law and starting an SMU scholarship at North Dallas High School

$25 MILLION
• Nancy Ann and Ray L. Hunt, 1993, to establish the Hunt Leadership Scholars Program

$20 MILLION
• Gerald J. Ford, 1997, toward construction of the Gerald J. Ford Stadium

• EDS, 1997, the value of land and buildings for SMU-in-Legacy in Plano

• Meadows Foundation, 1997-98, for the new Meadows Museum

$15 MILLION-PLUS
• Lester and Stella Porter Russell Fund, 1998, for faculty salary supplements

$10 MILLION
• Former Gov. Bill Clements, 1994, to endow the William P. Clements Department of History and to create the Clements Center for Southwest Studies

• Bridwell Foundation, 1994, endowment for Bridwell Library at the Perkins School of Theology

[MrMustang1965]

That's a lotta swag.

[that's great raplh]

and less dank - but i'd rather have dank

[Danny Noonan]

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Or at least in my line of work, we show it that way.

[friarwolf]

$33K is 33,000. $33M or $33MM is 33,000,000.

Be the ball, Danny..............

[smupony94]

Isn't $33M just $33,000? $33MM is $33,000,000.

Or at least in my line of work, we show it that way.

You are correct.

[that's great raplh]

30MM is thirty million

and i know

i am a doctor

[mrydel]

30MM is thirty million

and i know

i am a doctor

I thought you were a Wall Street "typhoon"

[smupony94]

30MM is thirty million

and i know

i am a doctor

I thought you were a Wall Street "typhoon"

He performs in the peep shows on wall street

[Ponymon]

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[that's great raplh]

30MM is thirty million

and i know

i am a doctor

I thought you were a Wall Street "typhoon"

i just play one on TV

[smupony94]

You do remind me of Benny from LA Law